Top 5 managers who were better as footballers

#3 Frank Rijkaard

Rijkaard was in charge of Barcelona when Lionel Messi burst onto the scene

Over a decade ago, it seems possible that Rijkaard was on his way to top his great playing career: in charge of Barcelona, he won them their second Champions League title in 2006, as well as two La Liga titles in 2005 and 2006.

With a potent attack featuring Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o, Barcelona were playing some of the best football in Europe. Two trophy-less campaigns followed, and Rijkaard stepped down in 2008. The quality of players remained the same but the Dutchman seemed tired, disillusioned, and he's unfortunately never recovered since.

A year in Turkish football with Galatasaray yielded no success and his last outing was in charge of Saudi Arabia, which ended with a win percentage of just 25.93%. It was a sad decline for a man who was amongst the finest coaching talent from 2003 to 2008, but Rijkaard always has his distinguished playing days to look back on, for he was one of Europe's best midfielders in the 1990's.

Alongside Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit, he was the Dutch influence that made AC Milan one of the revered sides of their era, as they helped the club consecutive European Cups in 1989 and 1990 (the last club to achieve the feat until Real Madrid last season), and the trio was always instrumental in the Netherlands winning their first international trophy, the 1988 European Championships.

He was ferocious, commanding, yet stylish on the ball, and remains one of the best defensive midfielders to play the game - none of which describe his role as a manager.